The Race Against Time
by idiot9
Summary: When a trip to the park ends up with Darcy and Violet getting kidnapped, the Avengers must figure out a way to rescue them before their time runs out. Meanwhile, Darcy has to try to stop herself from mouthing off to the bad guys. Established Bruce/ Darcy.
1. Chapter 1

Darcy laughed as she watched her daughter race towards the playground with her pigtails bouncing against her back.

"Be careful, Violet," Darcy called out as she sat down on one of the park benches.

During her pregnancy, Darcy had pushed for _Ultraviolet_ Jane Banner when they were discussing names, because come on, that would be such a cool name! Bruce wouldn't budge, however, not even when Darcy turned her puppy dog eyes and pouty lips on him.

"We're not naming our baby after a region of the spectrum, Darcy," he had said while running his fingers through her hair.

But because he loved her and wasn't a hundred percent immune to her pout, they compromised and called her _Violet_ Jane Banner instead.

The four year old, nicknamed 'Kermy' after Kermit the Frog by her family (well, mostly her Uncle Tony and Uncle Clint), turned around and flashed her a grin identical to her father's to indicate she did hear her mother's words. She dashed up the stairs leading to the slides, and waited patiently for her turn. Darcy couldn't help but feel proud that her daughter was totally awesome and polite. And smart too.

Darcy still maintains that Violet inherited Bruce's smarticles even though he explained that the link between IQ and genetics was still a subject of debate. But when Violet started reading her story books aloud to her various aunts and uncles at age three, they knew she was a very, very smart kid.

To her father's delight, Violet had taken interest in the sciences and would often be seen in the labs when safer experiments were being conducted. That meant no explosives, no corrosive materials involved, and no Tony, you are not teaching her how to dye Steve's hair purple.

And speaking of Tony, Violet's godfather had spoilt the kid rotten and built her a collection of models ranging from physics related stuff to biology related stuff _–_ Darcy had tuned out after he said something about alternating currents _–_ that would make universities like Oxford and Princeton jealous. Violet absolutely loved them.

She was already a little scientist in training; if she wasn't in the lab watching Bruce, Tony and Jane bicker like five year olds, then she was holed up in her _own_ lab (yes, built by dear Uncle Tony too) playing with her models while JARVIS kept an eye on her.

Darcy made it her job to take Violet out everyday so she could learn to interact with people outside of their Avengers family. They went to parks, malls, or wherever Darcy had to go that day. Sometimes Steve or Thor would tag along, and Darcy would educate them in twenty-first century culture or in Thor's case, Midgardian culture in general.

Violet's delighted squeal as she zoomed down the slide brought a wide smile to Darcy's face. Watching her baby having fun, she recalled when she first found out she was pregnant. She remembered being stunned first, then ecstatic, before the worry settled in.

Instead of telling Bruce first, she had gone to her ex-boss-slash-best friend-slash-best astrophysicist in the universe and had a minor freak out episode.

"_How should I tell him?" she asked Jane after prying her attention away from her frantically scribbled notes. "He is going to flip and give me all that crap about how I shouldn't have a baby with him because of all that gamma radiation stuff and then he's going to push himself away and then divorce me and then escape to Antarctica or some far away country like that and live all by himself with only polar bears to keep him company!"_

"_Breathe, Darcy," said Jane as she guided the almost hysterical woman into a chair. "First of all, Antarctica is not a country; it's a continent, and polar bears live mostly in the Arctic, not Antarctica."_

_Darcy gave her a 'seriously?' look, which Jane ignored and carried on._

"_Secondly, Bruce is definitely going to flip and panic because that is who he is. You two will probably have an intense discussion which is most likely going to result in one of you storming out of your floor. Then someone – I'm guessing either Tony or Steve – will go to talk to Bruce while Pepper and I comfort you with Ben & Jerry's and a James Bond marathon."_

"_And then?"_

"_And then you two will make up and he can become the overprotective husband who won't let you into the lab because it's too dangerous for your 'condition'."_

"_Are you sure?" Darcy asked her, unusually hesitant._

"_Absolutely. Now go talk to him."_

_With that, the astrophysicist sent her up to her and Bruce's floor to talk to him. It turned out that Jane was a hundred and ten percent right – things went down exactly as she predicted. _

_After Bruce recovered from the initial shock, he jumped off the couch and began pacing around the room. Like some big ass cliché, he pulled an Edward fucking Cullen and listed the reasons why he thought__ having the baby was a Bad Idea. Those reasons included all the ones that Darcy had heard of before during the early stages of their relationship (too dangerous, too risky, etc) and several new ones, like how Bruce didn't know what effects his mutated genes would have on the baby._

"_I can't let you do this, Darcy. I __**won't**__," he said._

_She gasped and struggled to keep her emotions at bay when she realized what he implied, but it seemed that her hormones had different ideas. The tears that sprung to Darcy's eyes surprised the both of them, because Darcy rarely cried. "It's my decision too, you know," she said quietly._

_She turned and walked out the door, trying to keep herself from breaking down right outside their apartment. JARVIS had thoughtfully brought the lift up to their floor, and informed her that Jane was waiting for her on her and Thor's floor. _

_When the doors slid open, Darcy was surprised to see not only Jane and Pepper but Natasha as well. Together the four of them settled in front of the television and ate ice-cream straight out of the carton. Well, three of them did. Natasha just perched delicately on the edge of the couch beside Darcy with almost abnormal grace. _

_They weren't even half way through __**Die Another Day**__ when the sound of knuckles rapping on wood turned Jane, Pepper and Natasha's attention to the door. Darcy kept her eyes on the movie as Natasha rose to answer the door, but couldn't stop herself from looking when the assassin returned with Bruce. _

_Bruce, eyes red-rimmed and hair more disheveled than when she left him on their floor, knelt before Darcy and choked out a quiet "I'm so sorry, Darcy."_

_Darcy kept silent as Bruce took her hands in his own and continued. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the other three women had slipped out of the room._

"_When you told me you were pregnant, I was shocked and scared. I was scared that something will happen to you and that it will all be my fault. But above all, I hated myself for putting you and our unborn child in harm's way. Gamma radiation aside, my childhood has messed up my life already. What if I turn out to be like my father? What if – "_

_Darcy cut him off. "Bruce, stop. You won't. The fact that you're worried about it proves you won't be like your father. And let's face it; I wouldn't have married you if you are like him."_

"_But I've already hurt you by trying to resolve this… situation my way."_

"_You were trying to protect me from something you __**thought **__was dangerous."_

"_Even then I shouldn't have made the decision to…" he trailed off and dragged his hand down his face. "God, what was I thinking?"_

"_You were over__thinking," Darcy replied, withdrawing one hand from his clasp and cupping his cheek. "Sometimes in life we just have to go with the flow and see where it takes us."_

_He sucked in a deep breath and leaned towards her touch. "I really don't deserve you."_

"_Yes you do. You're the best man I've ever known, Bruce, and I know Captain freaking America, so that's saying something. You have every right to unleash Hulk and smash the world into pulp for all the shit that it's thrown your way, yet you risk yourself and go out to save the world on a weekly basis, then come back to help make the world a better place by doing sciency stuff with Jane and Tony. You're a true hero."_

_With a half smile on his lips and a tender look in his eyes, he tugged her forward gently and kissed her. "You're a hero too, Darcy."_

_She grinned against his lips and then pulled back._

"_For the record though, I'm still mad at you and you're sleeping on the couch tonight," she told him._

"_Yes ma'am," he replied with a weak chuckle. _

Just then, her thoughts were rudely interrupted by the sudden 'shit is about to happen' feeling in her gut. She quickly reached into her bag for her taser, but a dark-haired man that seemed to appear out of nowhere halted her movements. He sat down beside her and said quietly, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Mrs. Banner. You see, we have a sniper trained on your precious daughter right now."

Darcy froze.

"Remove your hand from your bag, please," the man said pleasantly. "And place both your hands on your knees."

"What the hell do you want?" Darcy asked while telling herself to remain calm and mentally assessed any possible ways to activate the panic button embedded into one of the charms on her bracelet.

"Not much," he replied. "Just you and your daughter."

"You sure you don't want a sundae with that?" The sarcastic remark slipped out of Darcy's lips before she could stop it.

"No, thank you."

Again with the politeness. His congenial attitude was pissing Darcy off big time, and if her baby wasn't in any danger she would've turned around and shown him that her time spent training with Natasha wasn't just all talk.

"What I would want, however," the asshole continued as though he was oblivious to the fuming woman beside him. "Is for you to tell your daughter to come here, and then I'll take you both to a place more… exclusive. After all, you don't want any of those children to get hurt, would you?"

"You are going to be so dead," Darcy hissed.

"That won't be happening anytime soon, I'm afraid. Now if you would please call for your daughter; we are on a tight schedule."

"How do I know you _do_ have a sniper?"

"Would you risk your daughter to find out?"

Even though Darcy loathed to do what the man wanted, she knew that it was her wisest option right now. "Violet?" She called.

Upon hearing her name, the little girl turned her attention from the slide to Darcy who gestured for her to come over.

"It's time to go," Darcy told her when she got to the bench.

Violet frowned. "But we only just got here, momma!"

"I know, honey. But we really have to go now," Darcy tried to convey the importance of her words to Violet with her eyes, and being the bright girl she was, Violet understood and took her mother's outstretched hand.

"Oh," Asshole said when they were about to stand up. "You can leave that here," he nodded towards Darcy's bracelet.

Using curse words in every language she knew, Darcy swore at him in her head as she moved to undo the silver clasp while thinking of ways to sneakily activate the panic button. A gloved hand intercepted hers and did it for her.

Looking up, she saw that Asshole held her bracelet in his palm.

"You can never be too careful, Mrs. Banner, which is why I am also removing your daughter's necklace."

He reached around Violet's neck to take off the necklace that Tony had given her on her second birthday. It was a beautiful thing; the pendant was a mini replica of his arc reactor ("Because I am her favorite godfather!" Tony had declared) and most importantly, also doubled as a tracker in case she was ever lost.

And now with both her bracelet and Violet's necklace removed, their only hope was her –

"You can leave your bag here as well."

Dammit! Her phone was in her bag, so the Avengers were going to have an ever harder time finding them now; everything she had with her that could be traced was going to be left behind.

"Remember, Mrs. Banner, one wrong move and my sniper will not hesitate to pull the trigger."

Darcy glared at him as she bent to pick Violet up. The little girl wound one arm around Darcy's neck and fisted the other in her collar.

"This way, please."

Reluctantly, Darcy followed Asshole across the park and onto the street where a dark SUV was waiting by the curb. She bit back a snarky comment about the ridiculousness of the situation, but did not stop her mind from mocking the bad guys.

Kidnapping plus dark SUV? They needed to find new material.

The back door flew open as the three of the approached, and Asshole gestured for Darcy and Violet to get in. There was another man in the back seat; this one blond and dressed in a dark suit just like Asshole who had slid in after Darcy.

"Are we being kidnapped, momma?" Violet asked quietly when the door clicked shut.

The calmness of her tone almost made Darcy cry. As much as she wanted to lie to her and tell her that they were only going for a ride, the little girl was smart enough to recognize the situation they were in. There was no point in fibbing. "Yeah, baby. We are."

Violet's hand tightened around Darcy's shirt. "Don't worry. Daddy'll save us."

**TBC**

* * *

A/N:

idiot 9: Well, my first ever Avengers story. I feel slightly ashamed to say that this baby was produced because I was hooked on this ship and read almost every single Bruce/ Darcy story. Three times each. Annnd I should probably also mention that this story ignores the movies after Avengers (i.e. Iron Man 3 etc) (Freaking awesome movie, BTW)... So, read and review pretty please!


	2. Chapter 2

Refusing to take his concentration off the screen in front of him, Bruce reached and groped around the clattered desk for his cup of tea. Finding it, he picked it up and took a sip before frowning – it was empty.

Perhaps it was time for a break then.

The thought flitted through his mind so effortlessly that Bruce grinned and marveled at the change in himself; the change that Darcy had brought about.

The Bruce Banner before he met Darcy Lewis would've set the cup down and continued working until his thirst was causing the Other Guy to grumble at the back of his head. The Bruce Banner _after_ he met Darcy Lewis, however, was trained to at least take a couple of breaks each day to eat and/or sought out human contact.

Making his way to the little kitchenette at the corner of the lab, he made himself another cup of tea and bathed in the atmosphere in the lab. It was unusually quiet; Jane was off on a date with Thor, and Tony was at a Stark Industries' meeting.

Ever since Pepper got pregnant, Tony had hovered around her almost all of the time because she refused to take her maternity leave the minute she told him about the news. As a result, he followed her everywhere when she left the tower – from conferences and meetings to shopping trips and errands, where Pepper went, Tony went too.

Pepper had protested of course, but to no avail, so she stopped when she realized that it was an easy way to get Tony to attend meetings. And Tony, being Tony, grumbled everytime he had to leave for a meeting.

"I've been to more meetings in the past five months than in the past five years!" he had complained to Bruce that afternoon. Yet when JARVIS informed him that Pepper was ready to leave, Tony had dashed out of the lab with such speed that Bruce was surprised there was no tornado trailing in his wake.

Clint regularly made fun of his overprotective behavior, but Bruce knew exactly how the billionaire felt.

When Darcy was pregnant, he thought he had aged twenty years from all the stress of watching her dash between SHIELD headquarters and the Avengers Tower like she wasn't carrying a child in her.

Despite his concerns, she had continued working as Coulson's second-in-command up until the eighth month of her pregnancy because not even Coulson himself could talk Darcy into taking up her maternity leave.

"I'm only pregnant, people!" She had told them.

The rational side of him knew that any child with his mutated genes was most likely going to be stronger than other babies and that Darcy was absolutely capable of taking care of herself and their child. The other part of him (yes, including the Other Guy), however, wanted to wrap her up in bubble wrap and keep her in a room of cushions to keep them both _completely_ safe. He didn't dare say it out loud though, because Darcy would've threatened to castrate him for 'underestimating the power of women'.

Although it was a very stressful nine months for him, it was all worth it when he held his daughter in his arms the first time. She was a precious little thing; all seven pounds six ounces and eighteen inches wrapped up in a perfect green bundle with Darcy's nose and the faintest wisps of his curls.

Bruce had been so in awe of the tiny creature that had caught hold of his forefinger Darcy had to call his name a few times before he noticed.

"_She's beautiful, isn't she?" Darcy asked from beside him. Bruce tore his eyes away from his daughter to look at his tired but beaming wife on the bed. Thirteen long hours of labor was an exhausting process._

"_Just like her mother," he agreed, pressing a kiss to Darcy's forehead. "Thank you, Darcy."_

_She looked into his eyes, knowing exactly what he was thanking her for. "Always, Bruce. I love you."_

"_I love you too." _

_The two of them spent about five minutes with their newborn before the rest of the Avengers and their family burst into the hospital room. Unsurprisingly, Tony was the first one through the door, but it was Darcy's mother that reached the bed first because she yanked the billionaire back with a, "I'm the grandma, Anthony Stark! I get to see her first!"_

_Everyone laughed at Tony's shocked expression as he almost tripped._

"_Such a beautiful baby," Margaret Lewis cooed when the infant was placed in her arms._

"_Congratulations, guys," Steve said, ever the gentleman. He placed a brown teddy bear that was as big as the baby down on the bedside table and hugged Bruce, then leaned down to press a kiss to Darcy's cheek._

"_Thanks, Steve," Darcy beamed at him, then turned to where her mother and Tony were standing, the latter arguing that it was his turn to hold the baby. "Oi! No arguing in front of my baby!"_

"_I'm her favorite uncle, Margaret!" Tony said to the older woman. _

"_Actually, Tony, you won't be her favorite uncle," Bruce interrupted Margaret's retort, trying to hide a smile at Tony's shocked look._

"_What? Why?"_

"_Because you're going to be her godfather, you lovable idiot," Darcy told him fondly._

_The smile that appeared on Tony's face was so wide it was almost comical. "Really?"_

"_Yeah," Darcy replied. "And even though I love you loads, Jane, the title of godmother goes to Pepper if she accepts because she's the only one who can put up the godfather. On the bright side though, you get to claim 'Favorite Aunt in the World'!"_

"_That's fine," Jane smiled. "I call dibs on being the godmother of your next kid though!"_

_Darcy groaned while Bruce laughed and kissed the top of her head. "I don't think there's going to be a next kid. Giving birth hurts like heck."_

"_You just wait, Darcy," Margaret looked up from the baby as she talked to her daughter. "This pretty little girl is going to change your mind soon."_

"_We'll see," Darcy replied, then turned to the strawberry blonde. "So what do you say, Pepper?"_

"_Do I get to spoil her?" _

"_Of course," Darcy winked at her._

_Pepper beamed. "You've got yourself a deal!"_

_It was a good thing that being friends with Tony Stark meant Darcy was in a relatively spacious single room, because a normal-sized room wouldn't have been able to accommodate all ten people at once. It became even more cramped when Phil and Maria arrived, the former carrying a paper bag._

"_Congratulations. What's her name?" Phil asked in lieu of greetings, though he did offer them that slightly exasperated but still somewhat affectionate half-smile that only Darcy could bring out of him._

"_Violet Jane Banner," Bruce and Darcy announced together. Bruce felt a swell of pride surging through his chest at the mention of his daughter's name, and judging by the wide smile on his wife's face, she felt the same way too._

"_Oh," Jane's hand flew to her mouth._

"_Best friends, remember?" Darcy grinned at her. "I had to name my baby after you!"_

"_That is a beautiful name," Thor said, wrapping his arms around Jane who had gone a bit teary-eyed. "Lady Violet will grow up to be a magnificent maiden."_

"_I think this calls for a celebration," Phil suggested as he pulled out a bottle of sparkling grape juice and plastic cups. "No alcohol for Darcy yet." He told Tony who was obviously going to comment on the lack of alcohol. Uncorking the bottle with a 'pop', Phil poured the beverage into the cups as they were passed around the room._

"_Welcome to the family, Violet Jane Banner," Tony said, raising his cup._

"_Hear, hear," everyone echoed._

To this day, Bruce was still amazed he had a family to call his. During his time on the run, any sort of relationships he had with people – whether it be with his neighbors, or with his colleagues, or anyone else – was considered a luxury because he simply couldn't afford to get close to others. But it all changed the evening when Natasha lured him into the little shack in Calcutta.

Now he had a beautiful wife, a wonderful little girl and a family full of crazy but loving people.

And speaking of Darcy and Violet, where were they?

"JARVIS, what time is it?"

"Five twenty-eight in the evening, sir," replied the AI's cool voice.

Five twenty-eight. Darcy and Violet left sometime around two o'clock for the park, and surely they should be home by now. Picking up his cell phone, he checked to see if there were any messages or missed calls, and dialed Darcy's number when there weren't any.

"Pick up, Darcy," he mumbled to himself as he held the phone to his ear.

Unfortunately, it went straight to voice mail.

"_Hola! Darcy the Awesome here; leave a message! If you're Bruce then don't panic, honey, I'll be home soon! If you're not Bruce, I may or may not call you back!"_

He tried again.

"_Hola! Dar – "_

A chill ran down Bruce's spine as he ended the call. Forcing himself – and the Other Guy – to keep calm, he asked JARVIS to round up the Avengers available while he initiated the trace on Violet's necklace.

He found the signal just as Clint walked in with Steve steps behind him, the latter in his 'Captain America' mode despite not being in uniform.

"What's wrong, Bruce?" Steve asked.

"Darcy and Violet still aren't home."

"Did you try – " Clint started but was cut off by Bruce.

"Went straight to voice mail. Twice," he said impatiently as he clenched and unclenched his fists. "I just traced Violet's necklace to the park they usually go to."

"Keep calm, Bruce. They might just be running late but we'll go to the park to make sure," Steve reasoned, but the frown on his forehead betrayed his real feelings – he was as worried as Bruce was.

"You two go. I'll keep trying to get a hold of the others," Clint told them, pulling out his phone. "Nat's at SHIELD, and Thor's at the movies with Jane, I think."

With a sharp nod, Steve and Bruce left the room with instructions for Clint to tell the others to meet them at the park.

By the time they got there, the sky was already a darker shade and most of the children had gone home with their parents. There was a little boy hanging upside down on the monkey bars as a woman with matching blond hair watched from the park bench a few meters away. There was a young couple sitting at the base of a tree, the boy's arms around the girl's shoulders as she held a book between her hands.

But there was no sign of Darcy or Violet.

"Bruce!" Steve called from the benches opposite of the slides.

Bruce jogged over to where the super soldier was and his heart sunk when he saw the items he pointed at. There in the bushes lay Darcy's bag and bracelet, while Violet's necklace was tossed onto the concrete a short distance away.

"Don't touch it," Bruce said sharply when Steve reached out to pick up the things. "We might be able to get prints off them."

Steve nodded just as Tony showed up, slightly out of breath.

"I just heard from Clint and got here as fast as I could," he told them as his eyes scanned the park, expression grave.

"They're not here."

As the words came out of Bruce's mouth, the Other Guy roared in the back of his mind, wanting to be let out. His vision took on a green haze and he could feel the familiar tell-tale signs of his body beginning to morph into his alter ego.

"_No, not yet,"_ he told the Other Guy, gritting his teeth and trying desperately to stop the trembling. _"Not until we find Darcy and Violet."_

"DARCY!" Hulk bellowed in his mind. "VIOLET!"

"_No," _Bruce insisted, feeling his shirt stretch uncomfortably tight across his chest.

"Bruce."

Steve's voice barely penetrated his mental fight, but the hand he laid on the scientist's shoulder was warm and sure, enough to bring down the Other Guy's agitation by a notch and cease the struggling.

The quivering eventually died down and Bruce gave Steve a grim nod. "Thanks," he said, word coming out hoarse.

"I'll call Coulson and ask him to arrange for agents to come process the scene," Steve told the pair before pulling out his phone and walking away.

Bruce sighed and dragged his hand down his face.

"Don't worry. Darcy is tough," Tony told him.

"She's pregnant, Tony."

"She's what?"

"Pregnant. We only found out last night."

The billionaire swore and then looked at him, expression determined. "We'll get them back in no time, Big Guy."

**TBC**

* * *

A/N:

idiot 9: I'm here! I'm still alive! I didn't get kidnapped by Loki or anything (I wish). Sorry about the slow update; school and life in general has been hectic recently, and I've got exams coming up soon so the next chapter might take a while (though I've got about two-thirds of it done)... Anyways, read and review please :)

P.S. I finally caved and joined the glorious Tumblr family, so feel free to drop by hippo-critical dot tumblr dot com!


	3. Chapter 3

Natasha was standing ramrod straight in the middle of the communal living area with her phone pressed against her ear when the three men arrived back at the tower.

"Fury's been notified, and Coulson's on his way here," she told them as soon as she ended the call. "The techs put a rush on Darcy and Violet's things but they came back clean."

"Sir," JARVIS interjected. "I have finished a preliminary analysis of the camera footages from nearby places."

"What do we have, J?" Tony asked.

"I'm afraid there isn't much, sir. It seems that the perpetrator knew where the surveillance cameras were. All that was caught on camera was the back of his head as he ushered Darcy and Miss Banner into a dark SUV that was reported stolen last night. The SUV is then abandoned for another vehicle a few streets later, and that vehicle enters an underground car park but does not come out. I wasn't able to access their cameras as it was a closed-circuit feed, but I took the liberty of notifying Agent Barton. He is on his way back from acquiring the footage."

Tony's hand came down on the table, hard. "They're professionals. Dammit!"

"They have to be to go against us, Tony," Steve told him.

"Well, what are we going to do now?" Tony demanded.

"I've called in favors from old contacts and they're going to see what they can dig up," Natasha replied, eyes on Bruce who was slumped on the couch with his head in his hands. "In the meantime, all we can do is wait for a ransom demand."

"What if they don't want a ransom? What if their goal is something else entirely, like intel on us or SHIELD?" Steve asked as he crossed his arms in front of him.

Natasha grimaced. "I won't lie to you; that is also a possibility. But those men were clearly professionals; they knew how to avoid the cameras, ditch their vehicles, and were quick and efficient. Why did they go through the effort of abducting Darcy and Violet from a place where they could be easily overseen? They've deliberately left a trail behind. If they _are_ after information, they wouldn't want us to find them that easily."

"Not to mention," Clint said as he walked in, shrugging of his leather jacket. "That Nat's been training Darcy for a few years now; she's gotten pretty good at hand-to-hand, and it's not exactly a secret either. If they wanted info, they could've gone after Jane or Pepper."

Tony's expression darkened even further at the thought of Pepper being kidnapped, and Clint shot him an apologetic look. "Sorry, man."

The billionaire shook his head and instead asked, "Did you get the footage?"

"JARVIS has it right now," the archer replied.

"I hate waiting," Tony said, retrieving his tablet from the coffee table and began tapping away on it while everyone else in the room fell into silence.

Natasha walked over to the couch Bruce occupied and sat down beside him.

"Bruce?" She called his name quietly.

He looked up from his hands, pain and anguish etched across his face with such intensity that Natasha placed her hand on his shoulder in comfort.

Throughout the years, the seemingly cold-hearted assassin had grown to care for her fellow teammates and their significant others – Darcy especially. She was a peculiar woman with her own special brand of humor and sarcasm; one who retained her child-like innocence and still manages to see the good in everything in this dirty, noisy world.

Natasha had seen too much horror during her younger years; some caused by others and some by her own two hands. She lost count of the times when she pretended to pledge her loyalty to a man, only to turn around and stab him, both literally and figuratively, in the back when he was least expecting. She lost count of the times when she ignored the collateral damage when executing her orders from the Red Room and innocent blood was spilt.

She lost count for the sake of her sanity.

Then she met Clint and joined SHIELD. SHIELD wasn't perfect, Natasha knew, but she was finally doing more good than bad. When she first got her orders to become an Avenger, she treated it like any other assignment – void of any unnecessary emotions and refrained herself from becoming too attached. But it was inevitable, Clint had said when he found her on the roof top one evening, that she would feel a sense of belonging with this odd, mismatched group of damaged people.

"_They're like us, you know? Skeletons in closets, trust issues, secrets… the whole deal; so when we've finally found a place where we can be ourselves, we want to belong there and hope like mad that they won't betray us." _

And Clint was right. Despite what people have said about her being detached from her emotions, she was still a living, breathing human being; there was always this yearning, this fantasy, in the deepest part of her heart that wanted to have someone she could call 'family'. Since meeting Clint and Coulson and the rest of the Avengers, inch by little precious inch the hole and longing in her heart patched itself up until she could no longer feel it pricking at her in her weakest moments.

Now two members of her family are abducted and the rest are racing to get them back. No one could threaten Natasha like that and get away with it – she silently vowed to make whoever was responsible pay in a slow, excruciating manner.

"They're going to be okay," she told him.

"How are you so sure?"

Natasha could tell that he regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. She knew he was struggling to keep not only the Hulk at bay but himself from losing his cool as well, so she hoped her next words were enough to provide him support.

"Because this is Darcy we're talking about. And because I don't say things that aren't true. You know that."

For a while Bruce remained motionless, and then he finally nodded. To what, Natasha wasn't sure; it could've been to answer her question, or to acknowledge that his wife and child _will_ be alright.

Slowly he stood, and everyone's attention turned to him as he wrung his hands together in front of his stomach. "I'll be…" he started then trailed off, frowned, and abruptly walked out of the room.

"Should we…?" Steve asked, gesturing in the direction where Bruce had just left.

"Give him a while," Natasha said as she shook her head.

* * *

After existing the elevator at whichever floor he had pressed, his feet seemed to have a mind of their own as he arrived at one of the many labs in the tower. He made it across the room and slid down with his back against the wall and legs sprawled across the floor.

_Darcy. Violet. Taken._

He slammed his fist onto the wall beside him, feeling the reverberation tearing through his arm like glass shards in his bones. It felt like there were glass shards ripping apart his chest too, as he tried to control his erratic breathing.

Taken. His family. The family he had sworn to protect regardless of the cost; the family he had failed today. Ever since he met Darcy, he had dreaded this day.

He had always known that he was dangerous to all those around him, but after all these years of peace and quiet (well, as peaceful and as quiet as it can be when one has the ability to turn into a giant beast and lives with a group of superheroes) he had fooled himself into believing that maybe, just maybe, his existence wouldn't put anyone else in jeopardy anymore.

"_Stupid,"_ a voice that sounded eerily like his father's hissed in his head.

"_Stupid," _his own voice echoed.

He _knew_ he had to do something, anything, but he didn't think he was capable of coherent thought in his current state of mind.

"_Useless,"_ the voice he was afraid of when he was young scorned. Bruce's fist tightened even more.

Darcy and Violet could be anywhere, and anything could be happening to them at this very moment. _And there isn't a damn thing he can do about it. _An almost primal, frustrated growl escaped his throat as he tried his best to compress the urge to destroy the room around him.

"_Your fault. You put them in danger."_

_My fault. I put them in danger._

* * *

Tony found him there ten minutes later.

"It's all my fault," Bruce told him in lieu of a greeting. His mind was a jumbled mess of his own thoughts and the Other Guy's rumbling.

"Look, Bruce," Tony said, uncharacteristically somber as he sat down beside him. "You can't keep doing this to yourself. Every time something good is about to happen to you, you talk yourself into thinking that you don't deserve it. You're wrong."

"But Darcy – "

"Shut up and let me finish before I chicken out, Banner. This talk is giving me the hives. Anyways, our Darcy is a grown woman who is more than capable of taking care of herself. Hell, she can handle you and Big, Green and Mean, can't she?"

Bruce didn't say anything, so Tony continued on.

"We are going to find them. And when we do, the Avengers are going to avenge the shit out of these bad guys until even their mothers won't be able to recognize them. After Darcy tases the whole lot, of course. Which reminds me; JARVIS? Make sure we bring Darcy's taser when we go rescue them. Oh, and remember to record the ass-kicking!"

"As you wish, sir."

Bruce managed a weak smile as he shook his head.

"Anyways," Tony said after a brief moment of silence. "What I was trying to get at is that you shouldn't blame yourself for what has happened. Quit moping. Focus on getting them back."

"I can't think straight, Tony," Bruce dragged a hand down his face and sighed.

"None of us can," replied Tony. "But we have to keep it together for Darcy and Violet. If two heads are better than one, then the heads of two geniuses will definitely beat the whole lot."

"… You're right."

"Of course I am. Now, let's get to work."

**TBC**

* * *

A/N:

Again, sorry for the really, really, reeeeaaaallly late chapter :( Thanks for reading!


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